Apparently, West-side Washington bee hives are being lost at a catastrophic rate according to this article in The Oregonian. Stud Farmhand turned me on to this article, and since his hives are out in Walla Walla I'm betting he is unaffected. My hives, however, are in the strike zone. Yikes.
Nationally, a third of the food supply depends on bees for pollination, from melons to cranberries to carrot seed, according to National Research Council. Native pollinators, from wasps to bumblebees, are not present in the numbers needed for industrial agriculture -- and those pollinators are also in decline.
You know, most of the apocalyptic talk in the last few decades involves nuclear bombs, or nuclear waste, or anarchist loss of societal control... but what about the bees. The simple bee -- who would have thought such an enormously disastrous effect would happen through a domesticated insect of all things.
Get those backyard gardens rolling folks, looks like it's going to be a bumpy flight.
Bp
4 comments:
Planted my first (ever) crop of carrots about a month ago!
When I was a kid, there seemed to be bees everywhere. I was stung at least a dozen times. I hardly see bees anywhere now...and no, it isn't because I was a kid who noticed bugs and now I am an adult who doesn't.
OK, bees. We get it. We have wronged you and we are sorry. We are willing to toil in your honey collection schemes. We are willing to restrain the bears. We will plant more flowers, and we will no longer dwell on the crude stereotypes associated with "European" versus "African" bees, but will revere and cherish all bees equally. Name your concession, but please come back.
We have another contestant in the "my favorite comments of the year" awards.
Awesome sir.
Post a Comment